Thanasi Kokkinakis finds a fair defeat from Rafael Nadal

From the moment in warm-up when Thanasi Kokkinakis framed an innocent Rafael Nadal forehand over the wicketkeeper's head, the 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 conclusion of this match was foregone. It was also beside the point. This was the victory of the man who wouldn't lose over the man who couldn't, cherished by a crowd privileged to be in the cool of lidded Rod Laver Arena and by the rare luxury of barracking for both players simultaneously.

Nadal got his win. Kokkinakis got the most he could have hoped for this day, a gesture of applause from the always gracious Nadal at the end. ''He has fantastic potential,'' Nadal said. ''Great serve, great forehand. I really wish him all the best.'' Naturally, this occasioned more applause.

As well as a moment in time, this was a trip through it. For 17-year-old Kokkinakis, it was forward, to a year when he also might be vying for majors, though even he would not dare to imagine multiples on the Nadal scale. For Nadal, it was back 10 years, to when he was 17 and playing centre court for the first time at a major, this court, against Lleyton Hewitt on a Saturday night. The difference is that he was already inside the top 50 in the world, and the next year won the first of his eight French Opens.

Now, the tennis world is not safe for teenagers. In the mens' draw there were only four. One was Kokkinakis, who made his first foray into touring tennis only last week, in Brisbane, as it happens in a match against Hewitt. He was the youngest and lowest-ranked player in this tournament, and this was a clash between polar opposites, No.1 and No.570 in the world.

Still, a young man has to start somewhere and somehow. Nadal pioneered baggy shorts and centre court wedgies - remember that hitch? - and soon everyone was into them. Now the shorts have been taken in, and his game fits him better, too, and in matters of world tennis mastery, he wears the pants.

Kokkinakis is advancing the cause of boardshorts on court. If they and he look a little out of place now, Australia hopes that one day they will be all the rage.

As this country continues to work through its Tomic torment, reinforcements are welcome. In the media seats last night, Pat Rafter was taking notes, mental, but doubtlessly more comprehensive than these.

Nadal at 17 had the body of a grown man. Kokkinakis is lanky and gauche in that teenage way, at least until he cocks himself to play a tennis shot. Then that stringy body unfurls a powerful serve, also a big forehand, and with these he kept Nadal at bay for long enough to turn what on paper should have been an annihilation into a respectable beating. Nadal was as he is, subtle, forensic, consistent and remorseless. Against these, Kokkinakis had to offer only raw talent and youthful dauntlessness. For now, they were enough.

In time, Kokkinakis will learn how to hit that extra shot Nadal always demands of his opponents. He spent much of the first set shaking his head in a manner perhaps inherited from his southern Mediterranean antecedents at how many balls he had to play from on the baseline.

For him and the crowd, this became a refresher in the relentlessness of Nadal's game. They roared with Kokkinakis at an apparent winner, only for Nadal to retrieve, lob and harass Kokkinakis into error. It led the break that bore away the first set. The pattern was established, and would not be disrupted.

If anything, the scoreline flattered Nadal without deceiving Kokkinakis. He has a better gauge now of the direction and length of the journey before him. Nadal, meantime, has a fix on the much shorter trip he has in mind, to Sunday week's final.

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As it happens, this was not the first time Nadal and Kokkinakis had crossed paths. Pre-tournament, Kokkinakis interviewed Nadal on camera as part of a promotion for the racquet sponsor they share. The questions were stock standard until the last. ''If you and I play each other in the Australian Open, will you be nervous?'' Kokkinakis asked. The question stumped Nadal, and perhaps delighted him in its youthful cheek.